Confident, chic and intellectually incisive philosophy teacher Nathalie (Huppert) is passionate about her job and loves conveying her pleasure in thinking. Married with two children, she splits her time between her family, former students and her over-possessive mother (a great cameo role played by Edith Scob). When Nathalie’s husband Heinz (Marcon) announces he is leaving her for another woman, Nathalie suddenly has freedom thrust upon her. She faces a terrifying inner journey and must reinvent her life, and she comes to idolise her former student and protégé (Kalinka).